Transcription – [Unified Purpose] Tyrell Brown Ep. 09 – Podcast Highlights and Transcript

Shannon Penji (Host): Hello, everyone, and welcome to Unified Purpose, the podcast where we share inspiring tales of compassion, resilience, and community spirit. I’m your host, Shannon Penji’s partnership coordinator, and I’m joined here today with a very special guest, Tyrell Brown from Galaei QTBIPOC. I was afraid I was gonna butcher that, but I did it. Thank you so much for joining me today. I really appreciate it.

Tyrell Brown (Guest): Absolutely. Thank you for inviting me on here, Shannon.

Tyrell’s Professional Journey

Shannon: So, could you start by telling us a little bit about yourself, kind of anything you think is relevant on your professional journey. I know sometimes that people are like, whoa, that might be a little long. And tell us what you’re doing right now.

Tyrell: I’m freezing right now. It’s cold outside. But on my professional journey, I mean many things that have brought me here to this moment at Galaei. I was originally coming out of high school, wanted to be a teacher. That was like my passion and was my calling. I kind of just really wanted to be that like Robin Williams character in Dead Poet Society or Morgan Freeman in Lean on Me, right? You want to change the school and change the culture and, you know, get children a raise up and see themselves as powerful and strong.

So that really was always the heartbeat of my advocacy work, was recognizing how vulnerable children were, you know, knowing my own personal story of like being a child who was vulnerable, who like felt pushed to the margins, and knowing that experience and integrating that and knowing that, I didn’t want really any other child to ever experience that.

So I wanted to be a teacher. So I didn’t start right away. Like I took some college classes, but then I worked retail, as we all do right at one point. Or most people like work in food service or retail, or they should, I should say that they should, right? Teaches you a lot.

Shannon: At the same time.

Tyrell: Teaches it’ll get you together if you haven’t gotten yourself together. So did that for a while, managed a couple stores. And then after that I decided to go back to school. And then I started teaching. First was teaching preschool, so age three and four. And then also started teaching kindergarten readiness. And then, of course, during the pandemic when everything got thrown in the air was then also teaching kindergarten.

So after that, seeing children in their formative years and really, like when I tell you, I call them my babies, like they’re still my babies, even though most of them are like 10, 11, 12 years old. And still, when I see them in the city, like I’ll be like walking somewhere and I hear like “Master Terrell” and like some 10-year-old comes running over to me and gives me a hug.

And then that sort of bled, like, so I had always my foot in the door with like political stuff and political advocacy work and activism, like all the way back from being in high school. But had never, there was no institutions like, I don’t think people that you know. A lot of times, like when you think back to like the nineties and two thousands, there really wasn’t like a ton of institutions that were like leftist, if you will, right.

There weren’t like electoral organizations that were leftists. It was sort of all implicitly, like if you believed in these specific cause that you were leaned on this side of the aisle or the other, depending on which, right. But there was nothing that like that, at least from my sightline that was advocacy specifically for people who are, who identify on the left spectrum of things, and like beyond liberal to the left, right?

Transition to LGBTQ+ Advocacy

Tyrell: So I like then saw and seized this opportunity during like 2016. Was that, that was when I first started getting involved back in electoral politics and kind of started peppering around the edge in there.

But then I was asked by a friend of mine to help support her at the Trans Wellness Conference. They were developing children’s programming there, and they were going to do this huge conference specifically for queer and trans folks. And then they needed like to have a big program for children, right?

One of the most unspoken things is like how many children are trans, but also how many children are children and their parents are trans, right? So it’s a unique experience. So we wanted to cultivate a space that was like a safer space for them just to be right. Not one of those camps where you’re just like, oh, you gotta be here at eight o’clock, you gotta be there at nine o’clock. It was just like a place for them to explore, run, make friends, and bond with other kids from all across the world and really just build those connections and feel supported for that four day period.

So started doing that and was also teaching at the same time. And I think one of the things that, like I said, it’s that core in me that’s always like, what can you do for the most vulnerable? Meaning children then led me to Galaei, right? So I was asked to come here and to write programming for a camp up here that would be for trans children, for queer and trans children, for those of queer and trans adults.

So I did that, and then I was just up here as a consultant and I was like I should apply for the job that was open. So I did. Then, you know, the process happens. I originally didn’t get the job. I was in the middle of actually also running for office. And I think one of the things that even though the top candidates for this job all scored very high and the same. And, but they were like, well, what if you win? Like what if you win, we’re gonna do a job search in four months?

But then they eventually came back around after the position was turned down by another candidate. And I was like, sure. And I stepped in it. And at first, because I was coming from a classroom, I was so used to having a routine, right? You come in, you sit down, we do morning circle, and then there’s like, you know, you do a math activity, then the science activity, and then there’s recess and then snack, and you come back like it’s very, like there’s a cadence to it.

And then in the organizing growth, there’s really isn’t you just like, you either have you either pitching or catching, right? There’s like, you either have the catching mid on ’cause there’s something that you have to deal with or you’re generating an idea and you’re making it go. And once I caught that rhythm is when I like, was like, wait, I know how to do this ’cause I’m an organizer. So I like caught that rhythm and then really took off from there, right? And then, you know, this is where I’m at now.

Value of Grassroots Experience

Shannon: Well, that is an amazing story. I also really enjoy that your background is in like, some normalcy, if that makes sense. I know that there’s a lot of people that, you know, they went to college for nonprofit work or government advocacy or political science and get into this kind of role. But I think that seeing things on the ground and being able to have that experience that is just like a normal life that someone will have as like a college student or not a college student growing up.

Tyrell: It’s very much the life of like it. It’s like I came out of grassroots organized.

Shannon: That’s exactly where…

Tyrell: I was like trained and like, went to trainings about how to mobilize and how all the different layers of direct action, all the different mechanisms that you put into play, but also all the backline, unsexy work that people don’t see. Like they see the bullhorn and the loud speech in front of the institution and the signs and people chanting. What they don’t see is like all the back line organizing to make it so that we can even get to that point and show up in a powerful way to really affect and have the impact that we want to have.

It’s not just the sudden numbers that overwhelm the conversation. A lot of times it is all those internal things so that way you can get as many people there as possible and standing as powerfully as they can. And really in such a space of like, it’s like difficult ’cause it’s powerful, but vulnerable, right? There’s like, you want people to show up authentically and vulnerable, but also in a powerful way where they’re not just like pulling her hair out and screaming, but you wanna be there showing up authentically, like hurt or impacted by what’s going on, but also powerfully so that people really get the message of what you’re trying to drive home and really make change about.

Finding Patience through Teaching

Tyrell: So coming from that, it’s interesting the way that I think about these things, especially coming from the space of like being around children all the time. Like people will tell you, my staff will tell you, my family will tell you, my colleagues will tell, I’m like a really patient person, like incredibly patient. And it comes from like being in a classroom with like 10 to 20 like five year olds running around. And I’m just like maintaining your composure to treat them with the side kind of like kindness and compassion and delicacy that like every one of us deserves.

Like sort of like really needed me into this person that I am today where it’s like I can take the oncoming pressure while I’m also like navigating that challenge and also still staying in a space of creation. What is like the really cool thing that we’re actually trying to do that will take care of this, but also knowing that intermittently I’m going to have to navigate and make sure that the people that are standing around me are okay. And sometimes that takes being screamed at, right. Sometimes that takes, you know when someone’s drowning, they’re flailing. You don’t complain in the middle of trying to rescue someone from drowning that they slapped you in the face.

Shannon: So, yeah.

The Value of Patience in Advocacy Work

Shannon: No, but it’s incredible to have patience at the forefront of being in a role like yours because I can understand the positions that you see different people in because not only are they from all walks of lives, all walks of trauma, all of the experiences that they’ve had in their life, I can completely understand that they’re at a level of frustration or possibly anger or upset that someone who is of the point of having patience and understanding, you’re better fit to deal with it and also come out of it better with that person as well.

And I think that that’s a really wonderful thing to be able to interact with children to teach. That is also wonderful because I think that especially, and I’ve had conversations with my friend who is trans about this specifically that sometimes when you learn something about yourself much later in life that you’ve been suppressing, you almost feel like a child in the way of like you’re still learning about yourself. And I think that humans are always learning about themselves regardless of whether adults like to acknowledge that.

But I think that it’s like to come to someone with the patience that you would have for a child is like also just similar, it’s almost a similar experience, so it’s really lovely to be able to meet people that way.

Preserving Childlike Curiosity

Tyrell: Yeah. I love the way you put that. And also, you know, one of the things that I love most about like being a teacher and being around children, there’s like a special kind of energy that they give off because they’re always in a state of being curious. They’re always in a space of curiosity about themselves, the world around them. Like everything is a question and an open-ended question that they’re in a space of discovery.

And I think one of the things that, like it’s trying to reignite that in adults is what I like to really, when I say staying in a space of creation, that is like the foundational inspiration for what I want to do is like, I want to create things that give space so that people can engage in that kind of dream. But also create things that are fun and vibrant, right? So that way when people are at something that’s fun, that they recapture that feeling of like fun and curiosity and being okay with not knowing everything, right? Being okay with like, not knowing the consequence to what your fun is.

And I think that that sort of humility is a degree of humility that adults, when we exercise in our organizing and everyday lives, it’s childlike. You know, we always like be mature, right? Everyone needs to grow up and be mature, but I’m like, part of us still needs to remain childlike in the sense that we are really in a state of learning and understanding who we are. And really the challenges that coming are coming our way and how we’re navigating them, not just like over the next like four years, but also like, for the rest of our lives, you know, like, and what that looks like, what it looks like to really expand how we understand how small we are in the scale of the universe, but also how big we are in each other’s lives. And I think it’s a really cool meshing that I think has, that I’m blessed to have in my being of like juggling those sort of dynamics.

Self-Forgiveness and Wonder

Shannon: Yeah. I think that also, maintaining a semblance of this childish whimsy, so to speak, I think also helps you be patient with yourself. I think ’cause children sometimes they don’t understand the consequences of their actions a lot of the time. And when they make a mistake, they can move on from it pretty quickly most of the time.

And I think that maintaining that and maintaining the beauty and wonder of the world that children have, you have so much patience for yourself, but also more understanding to others, which I think is such a lovely thing to have and a lovely thing to teach because especially when you’re interacting with children, but also adults, it’s very difficult for adults to forgive themselves just for being in a certain point in life where they feel like they should be higher than or in a different spot or whatever it may be. And that’s not fair. And we’re just taught societally to think a way that’s punishing ourselves sometimes. So it’s really nice to have that.

Understanding Our Impact as Adults

Tyrell: Yeah, I like to think of it like, so think about it this way. It’s like, children are not usually aware of the consequences of their actions. But like as adults we’re, we’re rarely aware of like the profound impact of our actions.

Shannon: Right.

Tyrell: You know, and I mean like the ripple effects of the way we move as adults with like platforms, adults with positions, be that as a parent or an aunt or a teacher or the head of an organization or an elected official. We’re like the collateral impact of all the things, the rippling out of all the things that we do from where we stand in whatever positionality is higher than what a child is.

A child will throw a tantrum at the dinner table and, you know, throw their peas across the room and then you send them to bed, right? And you’re like, you’re punished in them taking away your game system and that impact that we are choosing to have on them has a collateral and profound impact for how they understand the world around them and also how they’ll perform in the world going forward as adults. Like learning that relationship to command, also learning what it looks like to not teach someone out of a bad behavior, but to punish them instead. And so we reinforce those things and have impacts on each other with how that stuff shows up for us.

And then when we become adults, like we’re not taught to walk gingerly. We’re not taught to walk in such a way that we really give credence to how big our footsteps are. Even when we’re, we try to diminish ourselves and it’s just like, oh, like I’m nobody. I’m just a student, or I’m nobody. I’m just this person that works at like this coffee shop. No one’s listening to me. No, but it’s like you are a grownup.

Like once you cross that threshold where people have listened to you or you’ve gained the ear of other people, your existence has a bigger impact on those around you than somebody would be sitting at a high chair and a dinner table when there’s a family of five people, right?

Shannon: That’s such a small impact that you’re having. Once you step out of that, even as a child to some degree when you’re in high school and you have friend networks and teachers and so on and so forth, but once you become respected or seen as an adult that is or experienced as an adult, that is when people really listen to you and you can have a ripple effect impact on so many things around you.

Adultification and Creating Safer Spaces

Tyrell: It’s why there’s such a issue with adultification, right? For children, it’s because it force feeds them into adulthood when they simply cannot have or take account for those ripple effects. Especially when we look at people in their thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, that still haven’t been able to fully wrap their hands and hearts around how they impact the world around them. Like no one can just bully their way through things. You can’t just, you know, like “it is what it is.” Like that is one of my sayings that always drives me crazy. It is what it is. I’m like, no, you have an impact. Like, be careful.

Like, it is what it is. No, like it’s know what you know. You can actually change the dynamics of the world around you and you can change how people experience the atmosphere that you’re creating. Like when we talk about safer spaces, right? For people. And yes, there is physical safe space, right? There is physical safer spaces where we can have people that hold community meetings, affinity groups, you name it.

But there’s also a conversation to be had around each of us taking accountability on if we are a safer space for individuals around us. And that means that sometimes the rah, rah, rah doesn’t work for other people and sometimes the demure, arms folded head down, that’s not creating space for other people that might feel more vulnerable than you or that may need you because they are agitated and may need to see that there’s a space for them to be able to express their frustration without consequence, without the ripple effect. ’cause we need that space to tantrum. We need that space to brood.

But the job that I have is unique in many ways, but by no means am I alone in the work that needs to be done. You know, there’s a lot of people who just don’t have a title, but are charged and tasked with stepping up into that calling to really create these things as well.

Creating Inclusive Spaces

Shannon: I really like what you said specifically about creating space for people that may not fit into or feel comfortable in certain spaces, specifically, like you said about like the rah rah kind of thing. Actually I’ve had several conversations with queer friends about pride and how personally, I’ve never attended Pride as a queer individual because I never felt like it was my place to be in. And I know that sounds like strange ’cause it’s like, okay, you’re queer, you should, you belong, that you go there.

That’s like, you know, you’re celebrating that, whatever it may be. But it was like something that was so outward to me and intimidating. And I’ve talked to other people who felt that same way. And it’s not like outward, like I’m ashamed of it in that way. It’s just I’m not a very celebratory person. And that was always something that was intimidating to me.

And there’s a lot of spaces that I think are not meant to be exclusionary because they’re meant to be safe for everyone to come, but the way in which they’re founded on is, or the vibe, so to speak, in which they give off might be exclusionary for certain people that have certain demeanors or just like a specific way. Whereas I know there’s a bunch of groups that my friend who is trans had heard about but didn’t wanna join because it wasn’t their type of thing. It didn’t make sense for them specifically. And I love you talking about that at all because I think that there’s like, oh, if it’s a safe space, it’s a safe space. But there’s ways in which…

Personal Expression of Pride

Tyrell: Yeah, we’re all unique. We’re all unique individuals. Every one of us, every single one of us, we be you cis or trans, straight or gay. Like we’re all unique individuals. One of the things that’s like, in my experience of directing the pride, large scale, pride programming in Philadelphia. So, and I’m very specific with that. Like we have the big event, but that doesn’t dictate what everybody else wants to do.

Everyone in the space of liberating pride in making pride your own. I’m not going to tell you what pride is like that would be like, it’s ludicrous, like for me to look at you, Shannon, or any other person and say like, no, this is where pride is at. Like if what you think is pride is like hanging out with your friends on your back patio or like going for a picnic and ’cause you want to celebrate in green space or get back to like some semblance of grounding an earth and you really want to, you don’t wanna walk around concrete slabs and push through crowds of people at a festival. Like, who am I to say that that’s not pride? Like I don’t own it, nor does the organization.

What we do is we’re facilitating a programming and we’re stewarding that program, but there’s so much space for us to really kind of exercise what pride looks like to us individually. And like for me, I applaud that. Like I applaud when people are in a creative space and they’re just like, I’m not going to tell like Shannon and her friends that what they’re doing is not.

Shannon: Yeah.

Tyrell: But instead, what I’m gonna do is I’m gonna create this and I’m also going to celebrate what they’re doing over there because that looks cool. Right? If someone says they wanna have a barbecue on pride, then please do. Like, if I wasn’t doing all this over here, I would probably spin the block and get a plate. You know, I would sit potato salad and some spare ribs, like that’s the truth.

But it’s one of those things where it’s like we have to rise above those sort of tug of wars over things about how we express ourselves and what’s for us and what’s not for us. Like, I mean, I’ve dealt with that even with multiple identities, it’s like being a black person. Well, that’s not for us. Like, well, it’s not for you, you know? It’s for me. I like it. I like that. And I’m like, people are like, oh, well you’re an old soul. I guess so, but like, it’s just something that I like that speaks to me and I wanna go see it.

Internal Revolution and Liberation

Tyrell: And it’s like not before the judgment and shame comes from the external world. It’s like not doing that to each other intra community and certainly not doing it to ourselves individually as people like saying that you don’t like something or having an initial guttural reaction to something that you might enjoy because you’re afraid of how you’re going to be caught up in a scene or seen as something that you don’t want to identify as, even though it’s something you enjoy.

Very many of these things speak to even how it’s like, what it’s untangling that conversation about what liberation is. If it’s not here, then you can’t advocate for and teach people on the outside what it is. If you have not engaged in sort of an internal revolution, an internal revolution and really set back and done that internal, those internal considerations, which I do every day.

I think that’s what people don’t, it’s not like a moment you don’t, you don’t wake up one day and you’re introspective and like sitting there like, no. It’s a pursuit every single day, waking up and really trying to find that foundational integrity of how you’re moving in the world to make sure you’re being something that’s an example of what you would want to see in the world as well.

Like I wanna see a world that’s more kind and accepting and more affirming. So me getting me bristling at and telling somebody that their opinion is wrong, like, it doesn’t really vibe check, you know, it doesn’t really vibe with…

Shannon: Mm-hmm.

Tyrell: I’m trying to make sure that people have, are able to give breath to how they’re feeling so we can grapple and navigate with that conversation and grow from it. It doesn’t give me, I said it the other day to a friend, I was like, what difference does it make that I’m right? Like what difference does it make? Right? Me and Shannon are arguing and I’m right. I’m right everybody, and it’s just like, well, yeah, but that’s not keeping anybody housed. That’s not keeping any, that’s not me being right isn’t making someone feel safer, because I feel right.

Like and there’s also trusting in your truth. I know in, I don’t, there’s things that I will not argue about because I’m like, no, I noticed to be true. So I’m not gonna get into a… “Trees don’t exist.” Yes, they do. Like…

Shannon: Like they look out the windows, right?

The Weight of Leadership

Tyrell: Yeah. But it’s pretty interesting being in a position where you kind of like your sight line is different. You know, you just have a broader sightline. It’s just like there’s a lot of times just because of like conversations that I’m in with other people that I’ll see like, oh no, that thing is coming down the pike and we better prepare for it. And I am able to talk and navigate with other people to like see if there’s a way that we can stave off said challenge or if we can navigate it differently.

And I think those are some things that like when people consider the weight of being an executive director, a lot of people immediately think about finance and funding for projects and staffing and things like that. And the truth of the matter is, is like a lot of that, there’s a lot of weight right there, but there’s also a lot of weight emotionally, especially when you are of the community that you’re serving.

You know, the things that challenge me are also like, sometimes I have to bridle my tongue because I’m non-binary and I’m black and some challenge that comes my way or did I see coming our communities way, it’s like it’s hitting, it’s going to hit me personally, but it’s gonna hit our organization and it’s gonna hit our programming. It’s going to hit all these other things.

And you know, so you’re kind of tasked with putting up an umbrella and on shoulders that are struggling to stay up too. So, it’s a very, very interesting position. But I don’t know where else I would be right now. So.

Creating Safe Spaces Across Identities

Shannon: Oh, well, that’s so incredibly wholesome. I, so we’re coming short on time, but I have a question that I’m really curious about before we go. So also wonderful conversation. I’m not trying to, I’m sorry I have to cut it short at all. But so with all of these intersecting, like marginalized identities, how are you able to create safe spaces for all of them? If that makes sense? Because I know that must be difficult. There’s different struggles for every group. I know that must be so difficult.

Tyrell: God…

Shannon: But yeah. How do you like, I dunno…

Tyrell: I mean, to be honest, Shannon, like the safest place that I feel like everyone’s safe place is it, again, we’re all individuals. Like I’ll say like my, the safest place that I feel is like in my apartment, in my bed, right? Like that’s like I can turn off my phone and, or I can turn on my phone and call like my best friend or whatever. Like, those are like safe spaces, right?

There’s the next layer outside of it. I was trying to condition my staff to understand this is like everything outside of what you identify as a safe space for you individually ’cause you have to identify it for yourself is just a safe space. Everything outside of that little bubble. Like I have my best friend that she actually lives in Florida. I go to visit her in Orlando and people are like, Florida’s a safe space for you. No, it’s not. But like my best friend lives there. And me and her have been best friends since we were 15 years old, like going on 20, going on 30 years almost. And that’s one of my safe spaces. Wherever she is, that is one of my safe spaces.

So, you know, but that’s for me to determine, for me. But then the safer spaces are like there’s this affinity group that I could go to or a group of colleagues that gets together for a drink every once in a while or pride or, you know, these are things that are safer, but reorienting yourselves to going, like, how do we hold and create safer spaces for all these different margin identities because thank God I’m luckily able to call on a best friend that is like, that can hold them all in one place. Who knows me internally, externally, and who would take some of the secrets that I have told her to the grave and beyond, right? And vice versa.

But like knowing that I have that, like everything external to that, I’m just kind of like these are safe first spaces and fortifying those. And sometimes you just have to have multiple ones. You’ll go to this affinity group, but even there amongst other people who are non-binary and black, there may not be like, it may not end up being a safe space ’cause I’m expressing something that I like about some sort of artistic attribute and they’re just like, well this isn’t a group for dance, this isn’t a group for people who like Bob’s burgers or something like that.

Creating Your Own Community Spaces

Tyrell: So like really knowing that there’s and also having the agency. I think that’s what it is. Like for me, when I say stay in a space of creation, I will say like, I like sports. You know, I love football. Like, I love baseball. I love basketball. You know, I love hockey even. I love tennis. I love all these sports. I love figure skating too. Like Michelle Kwan, I still love her today. Serena Williams, I love them. They’re so…

Shannon: Awesome.

Tyrell: And also like Andre Agassi. I used to love Andre Agassi when I was a kid, but anyway, I’m dating myself now, but, I like those things too. And so knowing and trusting that there are other people in the world that like those things too. There are other black non-binary or black queer or black trans folks who love the Eagles.

And being able to say it out loud and say, Hey, I’m one, I wanna hold a space at my house for us to get together and watch the Eagles game. And saying that and like inviting people to it. Maybe nobody comes, maybe one person comes, maybe 10 people come. But nonetheless, you gotta try to get your wedge into this world and say what you feel and say who you are and invite people into experience you.

And that to me is like the power of organizing. It’s the power of learning and getting to know each other. Is that so, you know, like I don’t think all the spaces are created out there. They’re just not. But if you’re waiting for them to be created, then you’re not on the right side of the coin. Instead of waiting for those spaces to be created and for the invitation, you create it. You invite people into the world as you see it.

You know, you might go to, if you write poetry, like I love spoken word and I love poetry, and I’m like, well, not every poetry group is for me, though. And that includes some that are queer, right? They’re, it is just not for me. It’s not my vibe. So I have to find ones or I’ll create one. I’ll say, Hey, let’s create this group. And this is the theme of it, right? This is the mission of it.

And I think it’s going to be in the next two years, four years, it’s going to be something that I hope people take up the challenge on is like while we are advocating and while we are making our charges against, and while we are saying we will not yield us spaces so that we can tell people who we are and bond with others. And how like, and I mean, tell people who we are. I mean, tell each other in community who we are. That’s why this podcast is really, really cool too. So it gives us a chance to tell each other who we are. So unified purpose.

Closing Thoughts

Shannon: Thank you so much. Unified purpose. And also it’s nice that you’re able to empower individuals to be able to feel comfortable creating their own spaces. I think that’s like a really important part of your work as well, is that you can create so many spaces for them to feel safe. But as you said, they may just be safer spaces. Whereas when they feel comfortable or can or want to try to make those spaces for themselves, they can, which is like being somewhat comfortable in yourself and what you like. And that is, I think, at least my definition of being comfortable in who you are is being able to express the things that you like, even if they’re not the stereotype or the archetype of what you associate with your identity.

Tyrell: I’ve, I mean, look, we, that’s the world we live in is like, you ha you kind of have to, especially with all intersecting identities, it’s like you kind of have to… I, it’s hard for things that I enjoy, like, like for me to like navigate them all the time in a safer way. Sometimes, I just have to challenge myself and go to the Phillies game and know that it’s not Pride Night. So I’m probably not gonna see a bunch of other queer trans folks or lesbian or gay folks.

But knowing that like we’re all there because we wanna root on the Phillies. The person that like steps outside of that bound to like challenge me on my gender journey and get annoyed ’cause I have on dangly earrings or like bangles or whatever. It’s like, well, clearly, you weren’t here to watch the Phillies game. You were here to watch me. And that is an awful, awful, awful shame to the Phillies because you just wasted all that money on a ticket and you could have got the show for free outside in the parking lot.

Like, it’s one of those things where like we, we have to, I know that, like I know those things pop into people’s heads, and some of us have more privilege than others in recognizing that too, like not everyone’s going to be able to feel safe strolling up to things that are quote-unquote not for them. But tell a friend, take a friend, or reach out to organizations like ours and say, I have an idea. Where can we, like, force this idea into, like, into where can we forge it? You know, and see what we can do to collaborate and create together.

I think is a really, really, like, it’s a really good practice to undertake for, for yourself is to like, first I wanna do this thing. You don’t feel powerful doing it. Who can you work with to do it with? Right. What organization or institution, or what group or collective do you feel powerful or aligned with to do this thing with, and, you know, see where that takes you and, and that’s life. Like, you know, nobody gets out there alive. So, you know, gotta do what we can while we’re here. 

Shannon: I think this is a beautiful note to end on. I don’t want, we might, if we keep going, we might get to something negative, so this is perfect.

But, but thank you, thank you so much. This was genuinely so wholesome. It made me feel very happy. Um, not that if you said a bunch of negative things about the world that I would not still be glad that you came on the show. 

Tyrell: Left and right. 

Shannon: But I really appreciate you joining with me. I know that, nonprofit work can be extremely busy and challenging to juggle, so I appreciate you taking the time to come on with me today. And, um, thank you for joining the Repertoire of wonderful people that, uh, join me on this show. I come out feeling so good about the world, um, because people with outlooks like you, um, genuinely give me hope. So, uh, selfishly, I appreciate you for over, it’s over. 

Tyrell: Somebody told me today, they’re just like, Jesus, please bring on the floods. Like, like bring on the, like, we’ll start building New York now. 

Shannon: Like, yeah, these are trying times in United States. He’s trying us right now.

Tyrell: But no, thank you so much, Shannon, for inviting me on. It’s been a really wonderful, almost hour talking with you. 

Shannon: Yes, it has been a wonderful, barely even notice the hour. So that’s, that’s how you know it was so wonderful. But I genuinely really appreciate you. These are trying times and they’re, they always are, but they’re particularly trying right now.

I appreciate you being so uplifting. I hope that, our audience is able to hear this soon and also feel uplifted by everything that you’ve said today. I really appreciate it and thank you everyone for watching or listening. I really appreciate you and I hope you have a lovely day. Thank you.

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